Women's Crew

Brown Wins Four Races to Take Third at the 2013 Ivy League Women's Rowing Championships

PENNSAUKEN, NEW JERSEY – The 2013 Ivy League Women's Rowing Championships featured some of the premiere teams in the country, and the Brown women's crew team rose to the occasion, winning four of the five events that it contested on the Cooper River. The Bears ignored the light rain that fell throughout the day, triumphing in several close races and coming in third as a team.

A solid performance in the morning heats put Brown in a good position for the afternoon finals, and the squad kicked things off with a win in the Grand Final of the 'C' Varsity Four. The Bears got out to a fast start, building a 10 second lead over the field at the 1000m mark, and never looked back, crossing the finish line at 8:03.111. Cornell claimed second with a time of 8:22.465 and Radcliffe took the bronze medal in 8:24.574.

The Bears returned to the river in the 'B' Varsity Four race, battling through heated competition to claim their second win of the day. Seeded sixth prior to the regatta, Brown earned a surprise win with a strong second-half push, overcoming Princeton and Radcliffe to earn the gold medal with a time of 7:52.390. The Crimson took silver with a 7:58.694 and the Tigers earned the bronze with a time of 8:10.965.

A gold medal in the 'A' Varsity Four completed the team's sweep of the fours, as the Bears' top-seeded crew raced true to form, winning in thrilling fashion. Yale's boat got out to a slight lead, heading into the final 500m with just under a second over Brown, but the Bears out-sprinted the Bulldogs to the finish, crossing in 7:39.511 to earn the win. Yale took the silver medal with a time of 7:43.215, while Princeton finished in 7:48.427 to take third.

Brown pulled off another upset win in the second varsity eight, battling with Radcliffe and Princeton down the entire 2000m course to claim the team's fourth gold medal of the day. The Bears jumped out to a half-second lead at the 500m mark, but the Crimson narrowed the gap to less than three-tenths at the halfway point. Brown opened the race up slightly in the second 1000m, crossing in 6:41.366 to take the win. Radclife was second at 6:43.507, while Princeton took the bronze, finishing in 6:47.010.

The Grand Final of the Varsity Eight was the last race of the day, and the Bears competed against some of the premiere boats in the conference, finishing sixth with a time of 6:50.926. Princeton won the gold medal with a time of 6:29.961, earning the Ivy League's automatic berth in the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships. Yale was second in 6:36.859 and Radcliffe finished third, crossing at 6:41.108.

Princeton topped the final team points standings with 81, followed by Radcliffe in second (74) and Brown in third (68). Cornell (55), Yale (54), Columbia (41), Penn (25) and Dartmouth (22) rounded out the field.

Brown will now wait for the NCAA selection show at 5:00pm on Tuesday, May 21st to find out if the team earned one of the 11 at-large bids to the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships. To watch the show, click here.